He was very shy of using it,
As being loth to wear it out.
And therefore bore it not about,
Unless on Holydays or so,
As Men their best Apparel do.
Besides, 'tis known he could speak +Greek+
As naturally as Pigs squeak.:
That +Latin+ was no more difficile
Than to a Blackbird 'tis to whistle;
Being rich in both he never scanted
His Bounty unto such as wanted;
But much of either wou'd afford,
To many that had not one Word:
For +Hebrew+ Roots altho they're found
To flourish but in barren Ground,
He had such Plenty as suffic'd
To make some think him circumcis'd._
The rest of Sir _Hudibras_'s Merit in Letters is of a Piece, and set off
with a Puritanical Air, that renders the whole truly Ridiculous, and
makes a good Comment on several Pages of the Doctor's Epistle, which is
most valuable for the great Judgment and Sincerity that he has shewn
in it.
It has already been observ'd, that _Horace_ asserts _Osse_ to be the
only Rule of Language; and the Letter-Writer repeats what he says, _of
Words going off and perishing like Leaves, and new ones coming in their
Places_, which he tells us did not approve of _Horace_, notwithstanding
his own Law of paying Obedience to usage. For if that were necessary,
what, according to our Author, would become of his _Monumentum AEre
perennius_? Did not the _Roman_ Tongue even by his own confession,
change as much as ours has done. _The Latin Three Hundred Years before
Tully was as unintelligible in his Time as the +English+ and +French+ of
the same Period are now._ And the Corruptions afterwards by the
_Barbarians_ made it as different from _Cicero_'s as _Ennius_'s; yet
amidst all those variations, _Horace_'s Works are still _Monumentum aere
perennius_. When a Tongue is come to any degree of Perfection, whoever
writes well in it will Live; there's a Thirst after Wit in all Ages, and
those that have a Taste of it will distinguish the Thought from the
Diction. _Chaucer_ will, no doubt, be admir'd as long as the _English_
Tongue has a Being; and the Changes that have happen'd to our Language
have not hinder'd his Works out living their Contemporary Monuments of
Brass or Marble.
The Doctor may as well set up a Society to find out the _Grand Elixir_,
the _Perpetual Motion_, the _Longitude_, and other such Discoveries, as
to fix our Language beyond their own Times. The Test of their Successors
will vary with the Age, and their Rules grow obsolete as well as their
Words. He would make us believe, that the _French_ Academy have not been
able to preserve their Language from Decay, and who are the Men in
_Britain_ who pretend to greater Genius for Eloquence than the most
Polite of the Politest Nation in _Europe_. Mr. _Waller_ Elegantly
complains of the Change which necessarily happens to Stile, and does it
however in Language which shews, that the Doctor need not be afraid of
People's forgetting his Patron a Hundred Years hence, if he can write as
good _English_ upon him now, as Mr. _Waller_ did on this Subject
Threescore Years ago.
_But who can hope his Lines should long
Last, in a daily changing Tongue,
While they are new, Envy prevails,
And as that dies, our Language fails._
_When Architects have done their Part,
The Matter may betray their Art,
Time, if we use ill Chosen Stone,
Soon brings a well-built Palace down._
_Poets that Lasting Marble seek,
Must carve in +Latin+ or in +Greek+,
We write in Sand, our Language grows,
And like our Tide, Ours overflows._
Our Author sees _no necessity of this Changing our Language_. What has
been the Fate of all Tongues Ancient and Modern, and for the same
Reasons will Eternally be so, he wou'd defend ours from, because the
Chinese _have Books in their Tongue above 2000 Years Old_; And a History
of 30000 Years Period with a Succession of Kings, 20000 Years before
_Adam_. It wou'd be a Discovery worthy those Men who have lately been
reconciling Contradictions, and building Arguments upon Nonsence, to
find out that _certain Standard for our Tongue, to which, if it were
refin'd_, he assures us, _it might be fixt for Ever_. This wou'd be
doing what was never done before, what neither _Roman_ nor _Greek_,
which lasted the longest of any in its Purity, could pretend to. And
this would not be the only strange thing that has lately happen'd to us,
which never happen'd to a Nation before. It will be in vain to pretend
to _ascertain_ Language, unless they had the Secret of setting Rules for
Thinking, and could bring Thought to a Standard too. For every Age, as
well as every Nation, has its different manner of Thinking, of which the
Expression and Words will always have a Relish, and be Barbarous or
Polite, according as the Times take their Turn. If from the abundance of
good Sense which appears lately in every thing we do, The Doctor can
demonstrate, that we never were in a better way towards the Perfection
of Thought and Language, let him set about his Academy as soon as he
pleases. But if the contrary is apparent, it may not be improper to wait
for some more propitious Opportunity. Besides, there will in all times
be irregular Genius's, who out of Humour will prefer Affectation to
Nature, and mistake Novelty for Beauty. _Boileau_ in his Reflections
upon _Longinus_, has several Observations of this kind, which will shew
the difference between true and false Judgment, by comparing what he
writes with several Passages in the Doctor's Letter; he is speaking of
the Famous _Ronsard_ and his Imitators, _Du-Bellai_, _Du Bartas_,
_Desportes_, and other _French_ Poets in the Reigns of _Henry_ III. and
IV. who were in great Fame for a long while, and when he wrote, sunk
into the last Contempt. _The same among the_ +Romans+, says he, _was the
Fate of_ +Naevius+, +Livius+, _and_ +Ennius+_,
who in _Horace_'s time had a great many Admirers as that Poet
informs us, but at last they were entirely decry'd. And it must not
be imagin'd that the Fall of these Authors, as well _French_ as
_Latin_, was owing to the Change of their Languages. The true Reason
was, they did not know how to hit the Point of Solidity and
Perfection in those Languages, which is necessary to make a Work
last, and set a Value upon it for ever. In effect, the _Latin_
Tongue, as it was written by _Cicero_ and _Virgil_, was very much
chang'd in _Quintilian_'s Time, and still more in the Time of _Aulus
Gellus_. However _Cicero_ and _Virgil_ were then more esteem'd than
even in their own Time, because they attain'd the height of
Perfection, of which I have spoken. It is not therefore on account
of the antiquated Words and Expressions in _Ronsard_, that _Ronsard_
has lost the Reputation he once had, but because the Beauties which
were thought to be in him, appear'd all at once to be no Beauties at
all.
Thus we see, that in order to bring us to the degree of Perfection with
which the Doctor flatters us by means of his new Academy, they must
teach us first to think justly, to distinguish false Beauty from true,
and glaring from Brightness, to banish those that write by Humour, and
receive only such as aim at Solidity in their Writings. How the
Celebrated _Tale_ of a Tub will come off then with the best Judges,
I can easily guess, that excellent Treatise being much of the same
nature as _Rabelais_, of whom _La Bruyere_ says, _+Rabelais+ is
incomprehensible: His Book is an inexplicable Enigma, a meer Chimera; It
has a Woman's Face, with the Feet and Tail of a Serpent, or some Beast
more deform'd. 'Tis a Monstrous Collection of Political and Ingenious
Morality, with a Mixture of Beastliness; where 'tis bad 'tis abominable,
and fit for the Diversion of the Rabble, and where 'tis good 'tis
exquisite, and may entertain the most delicate._
People very often apply those Faults to the Expression and Words which
are originally in the thought. The Merit of such as write by Humour,
Changes with the Mode, and their Language savouring of their Sentiments,
must of course grow out of Fashion. _Ronsard_ the _French_ Poet was so
far from writing ill _French_, that _Pasquier_ thought the _French_
Tongue in its Perfection in his Writings and yet upon the Appearance of
_Malherb_ and _Bacan_, he was no more read nor talk'd of; Whereas there
were Authors before him, whose Writings are now in general Esteem, as
_Marot_ and St. _Galais_, for the kind of Poetry in which they excell'd,
and their Stile is imitated for its Simplicity, by which _la Fountain_
acquir'd his Fame.
Instances of this kind may be given in our own Tongue, which has
improv'd in Refinement as much as the _French_. Our _Shakespear_ shone
on the Stage, with all the Qualities of a Dramatick Poet, and _Diction_
in particular, when the _French_ Stage was Barbarous. His Style has its
Beauties now, and is newer than many who have since Writ, and for a
while with Reputation.
Among all the various ways in which we of late have endeavour'd to
endear our selves to the _French_, and make 'em forgive us for beating
them so, nothing certainly will oblige 'em more than our affecting to
imitate them in our Political Style. Of this Nature is that Novelty the
Reverend Author has introduc'd into our Language, where the Term _Prime
Minister_ has no more a Place than _Will and Pleasure_. Pray who among
the many Ministers Her Majesty is so happily serv'd by, does she Honour
with that Name, and how comes it that _Prime_ does not go with
Precedence? What Law of ours Impowers any body to order our Language to
be _Inspected_, and who is there that wou'd think himself oblig'd to
obey him in it? Is there no difference between the Ministers of a
Despotick Monarchy, and the Servants of a limited one, who have no Rule
but the Law, and are as accountable to it as the vilest of their
Flatterers. We see how our Tongue would be improv'd and enlarg'd, had
the Doctor and his Brethren the ordering of it. He has already impos'd
on us the Court Style of _France_, and their Politicks wou'd soon come
after it. He pastes a particular Compliment on our Tongue and his
Patron, that they have not Merit enough to subsist a Hundred Years
without mending. As bad as our _English_ is, I'll engage it will subsist
in the History of another great Man of this Nation, as long as the Names
of _Edward_ the III. or _Henry_ V. shall be remembred in _Britain_.
There being some Characters so illustrious that without the Ornaments of
Stile or the Beauties of Wit, they Shine in their Native Dress, and make
every thing look Glorious about them. Others there are which require all
the Advantages of Language and Invention, and darken every Thing that
comes near them. The best of it is, the Contempt with which he treats
the _English_ Tongue, is not like to do it any harm, for whatever
becomes of any ones History a Hundred Years hence, the Doctor's will
certainly be of much shorter Date, unless his Censurers should preserve
the Memory of him, or he thinks fit to own at last some other of his
Productions, when 'tis probable Fortune has done her best or her worst
for him.
I have several very good Reasons why, if I were to be of this Academy,
I would banish the word Dozen out of our Dictionary, and the Doctor has
no doubt his to be fond of it, and fixing it there for ever. The
_French_ King says _he has given about half a dozen Pensions to Learned
Men in several Parts of +Europe+, and perhaps a dozen in his own
Kingdom_; which, he said, purely out of Affection to the Word Dozen,
because he knew full well the _French_ King bestows Pensions on a
Hundred Men in several Parts of _Europe_; and on a Thousand in his own
Kingdom, who excel in Arts and Literature, _which, including the whole,
do not amount to half the Income of many a Private Commoner in
+England+_. Whereas I will engage to name Him a Hundred Pensions in
_France_ that have been given to Men of Letters, every one of which
shall amount to more than half the Income of a dozen Lords, let me have
the naming of them too. The History of his Reign, which has been so long
Writing, has cost him near threescore Thousand Pounds Sterling.
_Boileau_ himself, after he had liv'd a Life of Affluence and Pleasure,
keeping a Country-House and City-House, dy'd worth above Five or Six
Thousand Pounds, which he had wholly from the King. Not to mention the
Rewards _Racine_, _Valincourt_, and other Poets and Historians had, who
were imployed about his History; Nor those to all Academies of Sciences
founded by him, and the great Pensions he allow'd the Professors. The
prodigious Expences he has been at in Printing only at the _Louvre_,
would perhaps amount to a Sum equal to the whole Income of several
Dozens that might be thought of above the Rank of Commoners.
The last Pages of the Doctor's Book are incomparable, full of most
delicate Eulogy in the World, which I cannot read without calling to
mind that Verse of _Despreaux_ to Monsieur _Seignelai_.
_Tout Eloge imposteur blesse une ame sincere._
To paint a _Mecaenas_ like a _Mars_, and confound Men's Qualities, is
a Stale Practice of sorded Flatterers, which Men of Merit reject
with Disdain.
_Un Coeur Noble est content de ce qu'il trouve en lui._
_Et ne Supplaudit point de Qualitez d'autrui._
A great Soul scorns to usurp another's worth, and is always content
with its own.
The Doctor seems to have an Opinion, that every body loves Flattery as
well as himself, and will take any Thing kindly that is said in their
Favour. A little more Sincerity would not be amiss in the Composition of
a Clergy-man and if this is the way to get the _Medal_ he talks of, it
will be dearly purchas'd.
I shall be heartily glad to see some of those Productions from Men above
Money, that shall deserve the Laurel he has prepar'd for them. People,
I doubt not, will crowd to get their Scriptions in, as they do to get
Money into the Lottery; but certainly, the Society will take care of
themselves, and if there's any thing to be got have the Forestalling of
the Market. The Design itself is useful, and cannot meet with too much
Encouragement, Her Majesty, always willing to promote the Good of our
Country, will, it is hop'd, hearken to it in due time; but if it _be
defer'd till Peace_ there will be no great Harm in it, tho' he is
pleas'd to rally one of the late M------rs, as much above his Satyr as
his Panagyrick, for being so silly as to prefer Necessity to
Convenience.
The want of a _Grammar_ and _Dictionary_ has been long complain'd of;
and we cannot expect our Tongue will ever spread abroad, unless
Foreigners are put into a more regular Method of learning it. To
distribute Rewards to Merit, is the Duty of a good Ministry, and nothing
contributes more to the Glory of a Country than Works of _Eloquence_ and
_Wit_; but he has assum'd a Post that will not be allow'd him. He has
set himself in the Director's Chair of an _English_ Academy; before he
has past Examination whether he is fit for a Place at the Board; Members
are nam'd that have no Right to such Honour, unless it is a Privilege
that is Inseperable from their Posts and Peerage; and he has given us
Assurance of fine Pieces of _Wit_ and _Eloquence_ from a Quarter it
never yet came.
Projectors, like Quacks, promise Wonders but 'tis always the Labour of
the Mountain------I might enlarge on this Head if I had not run my
Reflections too far already. I shall therefore conclude with a
Discription of one of those Quacks and Pretenders, as I find it in the
Speech of the famous _Alexander Bendo_, who, as much a Quack as he was,
understood our Tongue and our Constitution as well as the Doctor and his
Master.
_Reflect a little_, says he, _what a kind of Creature a Quack is._ Mind
what follows. _He is one who is fain to supply some higher Ability he
pretends to with Craft. He draws great Companies to him by undertaking
strange Things which can never be effected._ The rest is so valuable,
that tho I digress'd in it Ten times more than I do, I would present the
Doctor with it, and leave it to his serious Consideration.
_The Politician by his Example, no doubt, finding how the People are
taken with specious, miraculous Impossibilities, plays the same Game,
protests, declares, promises, I know not what things, which he is sure
can ne'er be brought about. The People believe, are deluded, and
pleased; the Expectation of a future Good, which shall never befal them,
draws their Eyes off of a present Evil. Thus they are kept and
establish'd in Subjection, Peace and Obedience, and he in Greatness,
Wealth, and Power: So you see the Politician is, and must be a Quack in
State Affairs and the Quack (no doubt if he thrives) is an Errant
Politician in Physick._
_FINIS._
* * * * *
* * * *
The
_BRITISH_
ACADEMY:
being a
New-Erected SOCIETY
for the
Advancement of Wit and Learning:
with
Some few OBSERVATIONS upon it.
----_Hae +Tibi+ erunt Artes:_
_Pacisq; imponere Morem._ Virgil.
_LONDON_:
Printed in the Year MDCCXII.
Price Two-pence.
The
_British_ Academy, _&c._
Such is our Case at present, that if we have a Mind to be agreeably
entertain'd with the State of our own Affairs, we must look into Foreign
Papers, rather than into those that are publish'd here by Authority; and
therefore I often read the _Dutch_ Prints with the same Eagerness and
Pleasure, as the _French_ at _Paris_ read the _Post Boy_. If we have no
good News for Our selves here, we may sometimes find some from
_Holland_; and what is good, is so rare, that I had rather have it from
any Place, than not at all. I was so delighted with the following
Paragraph in the _Amsterdam_ Gazette of the 20th of _May_ 1712. _N.S._
that I cou'd not help transcribing, and turning it into _English_, that
such Comfortable Tidings to _Men of Obscure Merit_, might be convey'd
all over the Nation. And I shall endeavour to prove, that the Design
there mention'd, is much likelier to succeed in _England_, than ever it
was in _France_.
The Words of the _Dutch_ Gazette are as follows, in the Article from
_London_.
_Il s'est forme ici depuis peu +une Societe pour recompenser &
encourager le Merite, par report aux beaux Arts+. Elle doit etre
composee de 21 Membres, dont il y en a deja 19 d'Arretez savoir les
Ducs de Beaufort & d'Ormond; les Comites d'Arran & d'Orrery: les Lords
Duplin, Gendre du Grand Tresorier; Harley, Fils dudit Tresorier;
Lansdowne, Secretaire des Guerres; Masham & Bathurst: les Chevalier
Windham: Messieurs St. Jean, Secretaire d'Etat: Harcourt Fils du Garde
des Seaux; Raymond Solliciteur-General; les Colonels Hill & Desney;
Swif, Docteur en Theologie; Prior Arbuthnott, Medicin de la Reine; &
Friend, Medicin du Duc d'Ormond. Ces Messieurs, qui ont reserve de
Nommer les Deux autre, Membres lors qu'ils le jugeront a propos,
s'assemblant tous les Jeudis, & ont deja fait des gratifications a
quelques Auteurs dont les ouvrages ont ete goutez, & recommande d'autres
aux Ministres d'Etat pour avoir quelque Etablissement._
There has been lately form'd here _a Society to Reward and Encourage
Merit, with respect to the Liberal Arts and Sciences_. It is to be
composed of 21 Members, of which Number there are already 19 chosen:
That is to say, The Dukes of _Beaufort_ and _Ormond_; the Earls of
_Arran_ and _Orrory_; the Lords _Duplin_, Son-in-Law of the Great
Treasurer; _Harley_, Son of the said Treasurer; _Lansdown_, Secretary of
War; _Masham_ and _Bathurst_; Sir _W. Windham_; Mr. _St. John_,
Secretary of State; _Harcourt_, Son of the Lord Keeper; and _Raymond_,
Sollicitor-General: The Colonels _Hill_ and _Desney_; _Swift_, Doctor of
Divinity; _Prior_, _Arbuthnott_ the Queen's Physician; and _Friend_,
Physician to the Duke of _Ormond_. These Gentlemen who have deferr'd
naming the other Two Members till such time as they think fit, do now
assemble every _Thursday_, and have already given Rewards to some
Authors, whose Works have been approved of, and have recommended Others
to the Ministers of State, that they may have some Establishment.
This Fact being thus fairly related, the Reader is desired to observe,
That it was in the Year 1629, under the single Ministry of Cardinal
_Richlieu_, when a Society of such great Wits was first form'd at
_Paris_; which was soon after establish'd, by an Edict of the King,
with the Style and Title of the _French_ Academy. And it is left to be
determin'd by all Judicious Readers, whether this _British_ Seminary of
Wit and Learning is not a Copy of that Renown'd Society in _France_; and
whether the Design and Model of it has not been approved of there, since
our happy Correspondence with that Ingenious Nation.
The _French_ Society consisted only at their first Meeting, of Seven or
Eight Men of Letters, who met together to talk about their Books and
Writings: And it was some time before Monsieur _Servien_, Secretary of
State, and other Persons, distinguish'd by their Condition, as well as
by their Merit, were added to the Company. But here we see the _British_
Society, at the very first Formation of it, is compos'd of no less than
Two Dukes, not only capable of _Rewarding_, but of Judging, as well as
of Writing: And likewise of Two Earls; Five Lords; One Knight; One
Secretary of State; Two Colonels of Foot, and One Squire: Not to mention
the Lawyer; the Doctors; the Religious Priest; and the Poet. What
therefore may we not expect from the future Progress of this Society,
which sets out with so much greater Lustre, than that of its Original at
_Paris_; so famous now all over _Europe_.
The Great End and Business of the _French_ Academy, was to correct and
refine their Language, as may be seen at large in the History of that
Academy, written by Monsieur _Pelisson_: And we have already a Proposal,
publish'd the 17th of _May_ 1712, _for Correcting, Improving, and
Ascertaining the +English+ Tongue, in a Letter to the most Honourable
+Robert+ Earl of +Oxford+ and +Mortimer+, Lord High Treasurer of +Great
Britain+: By +Jonathan Swift+, D.D._
_Louis_, King of France, by Letters Patents, in the Year 1635, having
mention'd the Great Things done for the Glory and Embellishment of
_France_, by his dearly belov'd Cousin the Cardinal _Richlieu_, His
Principal Minister of State, gives that Minister Power and Authority to
call himself the Chief, and the Protector of the _French_ Academy: And
doubtless the Scheme of this _British_ Academy is form'd with a View no
less Glorious; That the Great and Memorable Actions of this _Minister_;
the mighty Things perfom'd for the Allies and the Common Cause; the vast
Successes against the Enemy; and, above all, the Restoring of Credit,
and Paying the Publick Debts, may be fairly transmitted to Posterity.
That this is the chief Design of our _new Erected Society_, is plainly
insinuated by the Author of the Letter before mentioned; for which the
Reader may please to see his own Words: _If Things go on_, says he, _at
the present Rate_, (that is, if our Language be not corrected, improved,
and ascertain'd,) _all I can promise your Lordship, is, That about Two
hundred Years hence some painful Compiler, who will be at the Trouble of
studying old Language, may inform the World, that in the Reign of +Queen
ANNE+, +ROBERT Earl of OXFORD, a very Wise and Excellent Man+, was made
+High Treasurer+, and saved his Countrey._ [Mark those last Words, pray,
as you go along.] _Thus much he may be able to pick out, and willing to
transfer into his New History; but the rest of your Character which I,
or any other Writer, may value our selves by drawing: And the Particular
Account of the +great+ Things, done under your Ministry, for which you
are already so Celebrated in +most+ Parts of +Europe+, will probably be
dropt._ So far that Author: But I cannot help differing with him in one
Particular: For I am firmly of Opinion, that altho our Language should
happen not to be _improved_ or _ascertain'd_, yet the _great Things_
done by that _very Wise and Excellent Man_, will not so easily be
forgotten; nor the _rest_ of his Character be _dropt_, for which he is
already _so celebrated in most Parts of +Europe+_.